EENI Global Business School

COMESA Common Market Africa

Syllabus of the Subject

Common Market for Eastern and Southern Africa (COMESA) Customs Union. Free-Trade Area

  1. Introduction to the COMESA
    1. History of the COMESA
    2. COMESA strategy
  2. COMESA Countries: Burundi, the Comoros, the DR Congo, Djibouti, Egypt, Eritrea, Eswatini, Ethiopia, Kenya, Libya, Madagascar, Malawi, Mauritius, Rwanda, the Seychelles, Sudan, Uganda, Zambia, and Zimbabwe
  3. COMESA Integration Process;
    1. Preferential Trade Area
    2. Free-Trade Area
    3. Customs Union
    4. Common Market
  4. COMESA Economic Community
  5. COMESA Common Investment Area (Investment Agreement)
  6. COMESA Aid for Trade Strategy. Trade Promotion
  7. Monetary Cooperation in the COMESA Region
  8. Infrastructure in the COMESA region.
    1. Transport Corridors
  9. Economy of the COMESA Region
    1. International Trade
    2. FDI trends
  10. Trade Agreements:
    1. COMESA-EAC-SADC Tripartite
    2. COMESA-U.S. Agreement
  11. COMESA Institutions;
    1. Leather and Leather Products Institute (LLPI)
    2. Regional Investment Agency
    3. COMSTAT Data Portal
    4. African Trade Insurance Agency
    5. Alliance for Commodity Trade in Eastern and Southern Africa
    6. Federation of National Associations of Women in Business in Eastern and Southern Africa
    7. Eastern and Southern African Trade and Development Bank
  12. Case Study: Investing in textile, oilseeds, and leather sector
  13. Business in the COMESA countries

The objectives of the subject “Common Market for Eastern and Southern Africa (COMESA)” are the following:

  1. To understand the aims, functions, and institutions of the COMESA
  2. To know the economy of the COMESA region
  3. To analyze the steps of the COMESA integration process: free-trade area, customs union, common market and economic community
  4. To evaluate the benefits for the COMESA member countries
  5. To know the COMESA Trade Facilitation and transport programs
  6. To analyze the role of the affiliated institutions: PTA Bank, COMESA Reinsurance Company, ACA
  7. To learn about the Nile Basin Initiative, Indian Ocean Commission and Economic Community of the Great Lakes Region

Common Market for Eastern and Southern Africa (COMESA)
Common Market for Eastern and Southern Africa (COMESA)

Students, Doctorate, Master in International Business, Foreign Trade

The Subject “Common Market for Eastern and Southern Africa (COMESA)” belongs to the following Online Programs taught by EENI Global Business School:

Doctorate: African Business, World Trade.

Doctorate in International Business (DIB) Online

Masters: Business in Africa, International Business, Foreign Trade.

Masters in International Business and Foreign Trade (MIB)

Courses: Business in Central Africa, East Africa, Southern Africa.

Foreign Trade and Business in Southern Africa. Online Diploma, Master, Doctorate

Masters adapted to the countries of the COMESA: Eritrea, Masters, International Business Trade Eritrea, Eswatini, Masters, International Business Trade Eswatini, Ethiopia, Masters, International Business Trade Ethiopia, Kenya: Doctorate, Masters, Foreign Trade, Business Kenya, Mauritius, Masters, International Business Trade Mauritius, Malawi Masters, Doctorate, Foreign Trade, Business Malawi, Seychelles, Masters, International Business Trade Seychelles, Sudan, Masters, International Business Trade Sudan, Uganda, Masters, International Business Trade Uganda, Rwanda, Masters, International Business Trade Rwanda, Zambia (Study Master Doctorate, Foreign Trade, International Business) Zambia, and Zimbabwe, Masters, International Business Trade Zimbabwe.

Foreign Trade and Business in East Africa

Languages: Masters, Doctorate, International Business, English or Study Doctorate in International Business in French COMESA Study Master Doctorate in International Business in Spanish COMESA Masters Foreign Trade in Portuguese COMESA.

  1. Credits of the Subject “Common Market for Eastern and Southern Africa (COMESA)”: 2 ECTS Credits
  2. Duration: two weeks

African Economic Integration

The objective of the COMESA is to develop a Free-Trade Area removing all the internal trade tariffs and barriers.

Custom Union - Common Market for Eastern and Southern Africa COMESA

COMESA: 50% of the FDI inflows in Africa.

COMESA (Common Market for Eastern and Southern Africa).

The COMESA strategy is the “economic welfare through the regional integration in the Southern African region.”

The COMESA members economies are Burundi, Comoros, DR Congo, Djibouti, Egypt, Eritrea, Eswatini, Ethiopia, Kenya, Libya, Madagascar, Malawi, Mauritius, Rwanda, Seychelles, Somalia, Sudan, Tunisia, Uganda, Zambia, and Zimbabwe.

South Sudan, has requested the access to the COMESA.

  1. These countries are predominantly Christians
  2. Muslim Countries are the Comoros, Djibouti, Egypt, Somalia, and Sudan
  3. The population of the COMESA Markets: 406 million inhabitants
  4. Former members of the COMESA: Lesotho (1997), Mozambique (1997), Tanzania (2000), Namibia (2004), and Angola (2007)

Market Access - Free Trade Agreements

The COMESA Free-Trade Area was achieved in 2000 when nine of the COMESA member economies (Djibouti, Kenya, Madagascar, Malawi, Mauritius, Sudan, Zambia, and Zimbabwe) eliminated their tariffs on the originating products from the Eastern and Southern African Countries.

Non-tariff Measures to Trade

This followed an Foreign Trade liberalization programme that started in 1984 on the reduction (and eventual elimination) of the tariff and non-tariff trade barriers in the COMESA region.

Burundi and Rwanda joined the COMESA Free-Trade Area in 2004.

These eleven economies of the COMESA Free-Trade Area have not only eliminated the customs tariffs but are working on the eventual quantitative restrictions and other Technical Barriers to Trade (TBT) elimination.

Other objectives related to the COMESA trade promotion are:

  1. Regional Trade liberalization and customs cooperation
  2. Improving the transport and communications administration to facilitate the movement of products, services, and people between the economies in the COMESA region
  3. Macroeconomics and monetary policies coordination

The Common Market for Eastern and Southern Africa (COMESA) plans to become a Customs Union.

The Common Market for Eastern and Southern Africa belongs to the African Civilization:

  1. Southern African Economic Area
  2. East African Economic Area
  3. Central African Economic Area

The Eastern and Southern African Trade and Development Bank was created in 1985 following the dispositions of the Treaty of 1981 establishing the Preferential Trade Area, which has since been transformed into the Common Market for Eastern and Southern African States (COMESA), as a financial arm of the integration agreement.

Transport and Logistics in Africa. Corridors, ports

Trans-African Corridors in the COMESA region:

  1. Northern Corridor
  2. Lobito Corridor
  3. Tripoli-Windhoek
  4. Cairo-Gaborone
  5. Beira-Lobito
  6. North-South Corridor
  7. Lagos-Mombasa
  8. Asia-Africa Corridor

The largest ports in the COMESA region are:

  1. Port of Mombasa
  2. Port Said
  3. Port Sudan
  4. Port of Djibouti
  5. Port of Toamasina

EENI African Business Portal.

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African Northern Corridor (Burundi, Rwanda, Kenya, and Uganda) Road Transport

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